1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a track system for a passenger-accomodating vehicle as part of a rollercoaster comprising an accelerating stretch, a rollover stretch, helical stretches and a coasting stretch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A rollercoaster designated as "corkscrew" is known from the German Auslegeschrift No. 2 504 011, in which the downward or drop path, on which the vehicles move downwardly by means of their own weight, is formed as a helix with a specific radius towards the longitudinal axis of the path and with a definite helix angle. By this means the vehicles also carry out, in addition to their forward movement, another movement which is designated in airplane stunt flying as a "roll".
Furthermore, a rollercoaster or slide can be taken from the German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3 117 314, especially for the use as a ride with unsteered vehicles, in which the radii of curvature of the track system can be changed to correspond to a clothoid spiral. This measure, already known also in the construction of streets and railroads, is supposed to guarantee that the vehicles move free of transverse force on a theoretically correct, spatial path.
In the brochure "Darda-Drom fur Darda Autos" tracks for toy cars are described in which two rollover stretches are arranged between an acceleration stretch and a coasting stretch such that the two rollover stretches are positioned--apart from the absolutely necessary side-wise displacement--in a vertical plane. The axes of the two rollover stretches lie, however, adjacent to each other in a horizontal plane. The two rollover stretches are connected with each other by a horizontal run.
A track system for a passenger-accomodating vehicle as a part of a rollercoaster of the given kind can be taken from the German patent specification No. 3 001 450 and has tracks which form an acceleration stretch, a straight drop stretch, for example, or a kind of catapult, a rollover stretch consisting of several portions in which the vehicle is rotated around its own lateral axis, two helical stretches in which the vehicle is rotated around its longitudinal axis, and a coasting stretch. This system of tracks combines thus a helix with a rollover stretch so that a type of track results designated also as "Looping".
The disadvantage, however, of such a system of tracks is that, because of the complicated form of the path, the passing spectators cannot follow the vehicles along the complete stretch, thus these spectators are not animated to the desired extent to take a ride.
Furthermore, the attraction of such a rollercoaster wears out relatively fast, that means one has to continually attempt to attract visitors by offering new and even more complicated track forms.